Dihé Spirulina · Wild-Harvested by Kanembu Women, Lake Chad

The original spirulina, before the industry

Long before spirulina became a cultivated commodity in tanks across Hawaii, India, and China, Kanembu women in the Lake Chad basin were harvesting the same algae from the surface of brackish lakes, drying it on sandy shores, and feeding it to their families. They have done so for at least four centuries. The Chadian name for this spirulina is Dihé.

What you receive in every Essential Care Plus shipment is that exact Dihé, harvested the same way it has always been harvested, dried in the sun, packaged with the cooperative name, harvest date, and lot ID documented.

Why Dihé is different from commodity spirulina

Most spirulina on the global market is Arthrospira platensis grown in controlled tanks, harvested mechanically, then spray-dried at high temperatures. The process is efficient. It also degrades the most fragile bioactive compounds. Dihé takes the opposite path on every step.

For supplement and food formulators, this matters in two ways. The phycocyanin content (the blue pigment with documented antioxidant activity) is the most fragile compound in spirulina and the first to degrade under industrial drying. Sun-dried Dihé retains substantially more of it. For cosmetic formulators, the phycocyanin density is the reason Dihé commands premium pricing in serum and mask formulations.

How Kanembu women harvest Dihé

The harvest takes place on the shallow brackish lakes of the Kanem region, primarily around Lake Bol. Only women harvest Dihé. According to Kanembu tradition, men entering the water would make the lake barren, so the practice has remained exclusively female for centuries.

• The women skim the floating algal mat from the lake surface and pour it into baskets or directly into jars.
• The biomass is filtered through cloth and spread on the sandy shore to begin sun drying.
• Once partially dried, the semi-solid Dihé is cut into small squares, then taken to the village mats for final drying.
• A single Kanembu woman harvests typically four to eight kilograms per day during the high season.
• The Kanem region produces approximately 250 dry tons annually, generating income for several hundred women across the cooperative network.

Sourcing transparency

Every Essential Care Plus shipment of Dihé ships with:

• Lot certificate with harvest date, harvest location (Lake Bol or named secondary lake), batch ID, moisture content, and packaging date.
• Named cooperative contact, available for independent verification by your quality team.
• Phytosanitary certificate for international shipments, required for customs clearance in the EU, UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
• Photo evidence at source, taken at the harvest site within the production window of your order.
• DHL Express tracking, four to seven business days to most destinations from our Cotonou warehouse.

Documented by Slow Food and UNESCO

Dihé has been recognized by the Slow Food Foundation as a presidium in its Ark of Taste, a living catalogue of traditional foods at risk of disappearing. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched a program in 2007 to support Kanembu women in improving harvest hygiene and international packaging. UNESCO documented Dihé as a “miracle ingredient” of Lake Chad for its nutritional density in a region historically affected by malnutrition.

The same scientific literature that established commodity spirulina as a nutritional supplement was, in many cases, originally derived from research on the Lake Chad strain. You are buying the original.

Who buys our Dihé wholesale

• Supplement formulators producing premium capsule or powder lines that need verifiable single-origin sourcing to differentiate from commodity competition.
• Food and beverage brands incorporating spirulina into smoothie powders, energy bars, or functional foods that value bioactive density over price.
• Cosmetic formulators developing serums, masks, or scalp treatments that leverage the phycocyanin content in Dihé for antioxidant claims.
• Research institutions and universities requiring documented wild-harvested spirulina for nutritional or biochemical research.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Dihé more expensive than commodity spirulina ?

You are paying for three things commodity producers cannot deliver. First, wild-harvested algae from a multi-strain natural ecosystem, which research links to higher bioactive density. Second, sun drying at low temperature, which preserves heat-sensitive compounds (notably phycocyanin) that industrial spray drying degrades. Third, a complete provenance chain back to a named Kanembu cooperative on Lake Bol, with documentation your formulation chemists and regulatory team can verify independently.

Can I get a current nutritional analysis report ?

Yes. We send the most recent third-party laboratory analysis on request (protein content, beta-carotene, phycocyanin, iron, ash, moisture, microbiological profile, heavy metals). Submit the inquiry form on our Wholesale Program page and we reply within 24 business hours with the current lot analysis.

What is the harvest cycle and lead time ?

The Kanembu Dihé harvest runs year-round, with peak production during the dry season (November to April). We maintain stock buffer in our Cotonou warehouse to ship orders within four to seven business days regardless of harvest season. For orders above 50 kg, lead time may extend to ten business days during peak demand.

Is the spirulina certified organic ?

Dihé from the Kanembu harvest is grown in an open lake ecosystem with no inputs, no fertilizers, no synthetic chemicals. By substance it is more pristine than most certified organic spirulina, but the formal organic certification process is currently in progress for the cooperative network. Documentation of the chemical-free production environment is available on request.

What is the minimum order ?

Ten kilograms. For brands evaluating the ingredient for the first time before committing to volume, we accept smaller starter orders through the Wholesale Starter tier, beginning at five kilograms.